Posted 3 years ago on Oct. 17, 2011, 7:52 p.m. EST by brecknock
(23)
from Regina, SK
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

The OWS movement is a continuation of the Arab Spring. Rather than tyrannical political oppression there is a revolt surrounding economic repression and political unfairness. The discontent is justified but the issue is being framed incorrectly as the real issue at stake is the anachronisms of our economic and political systems to be functional in a global information age. The words of the wise Canadian sage Marshall McCloughen should be heeded "the medium is the message" for if solutions are to be sought they will not come out of the political and economic sectors but from the new online global community.

Here is why and how. The basic problem with the financial system is how very sophisticated financial transactions fail to add value to the process of business and as such are exploitative. If you are among the elite who can actually understand the intricacies of quantum mechanics, derivatives and collateral debt obligations you cannot aid in fixing the system because you are already profiting from it. Simply, these transactions are too complex for regulators; they are not illegal but creative mechanisms to make money on transactions.

Well what is this based upon? None of these mechanisms can exist without the compliance of fractional banking. This system at best is supported in a convention on the value of currency, which is why it is illegal to start a run on a bank. The legislators empower this system as it all utilizes sovereign currency which allows them to set the fractional reserve/lending rates. Looking for answers within this system are at odds with the system itself. The real answer must lie outside of this system and I posit that it may through non-sovereign currencies and electronic ones at that.

Because there is already a medium of exchange in bitcoin whereby you can exchange your bitcoins for dollars there exists in the power of the Occupy Wall Street movement the ability to rewrite money.

If everyone supporting the OWS movement puts $10 into bitcoin the exchange rate will go from 1-$4.30 to 1-$50. This will be the first example of non-sovereign currency going viral and the rush will not stop. Because of the returns available there will be a rush to invest...early adapters will not only invest they will convert all assets to the new medium of exchange as the standard sovereign currencies devalue. finally institutional investors will follow suit and last but not least sovereign governments.

This change will disenfranchise the 1% so identified with the movement more than any other group. Finally when sovereign nations are forced into converting they will not have a ready means of taxation whereby a Robin hood or transaction tax may be implemented causing speculation to pay for its participation in the economic process.

Smarter people than me please expand on this thread but remember the ideal of viral is very new and there are no reasons that this would not be a solution.

30 Comments

I agree and I have already started to leave the USD moving into Bitcoin. I'm not doing this to speculate or make money. I'm doing this as an "enlightened disengagement". Making a personal decision to leave a corrupt system, moving to a more ethical system.

One, of the people, not centrally planned by the so called elite. I don't expect everyone to do the same, but I do expect more people to do what I'm doing as they wake up and attempt to unplug from this matrix.

The value of Bitcoins did not "crash" it just pulled back from a speculative bubble produced by technologically ignorant oportunists. Bitcoin's value was just 15 cents around last year's end, and it's currently trading at USD 3,2

On the other hand, the fact that several online bitcoin "wallets" or banks were either hacked or plain old scams doesn't mean that OWS must suffer that fate. Money is money, and if you put it in the wrong hands, it's gone. It's just a matter of solving the wallet file issue in a distributed manner. There are some rough edges to the software that can be improved, no doubt. But that is all, the technology is there and it's safe if you make it safe.

I'd love to see a Bitcoin demonstration right there on the plaza!
To let the people know that there is a way of exchanging value among people around the world without middle men can be a tipping point IMHO.

Bitcoin is OPEN SOURCE AND PEER TO PEER.
Just as unstoppable as the peaceful rEvolution that's going on in the world as I write these lines.

"MyBitcoin, the largest online “bank” for bitcoins, simply vanished from the net. They have been around for quite a while but have always seemed a little shady. Like, having a private whois on the domain and using parts of their website through the Tor network. Despite all this, a very large amount of people had their wallets in MyBitcoins, including Bruce Wagner, the owner of OnlyOneTV, producer of “The Bitcoin Show” and hosting the Bitcoin Conference who personally lost 25k bitcoins ($250k USD). Ironically, the 3 restaurants accepting bitcoins as payments also stored their wallets in MyBitcoin. The FBI was notified (lol), but the owner is believed to be living in Barbados currently but there’s no chance in hell anyone will or care to find him."

these guys are scammers like the bankers. new systems need good regulatory oversight.

Your Bitcoins are NOT held online unless you CHOOSE to do so. I highly recommend that you keep them in your own digital wallet! Not doing so, requires a high level of trust and like you mention MyBitcoin, that amounted to individuals trusting an anonymous stranger. Not very smart is it?

Bitcoin, and crypto-currency in general imposes a higher level of discipline than average computer users are used to. Understanding security is essential, we are talking storing real money digitally now. This is different than storing documents, pictures, and email - discipline and study. Financial liberty and independence is not free. It requires work, Not for the lazy and uninformed!

Don't believe everything you read (especially in this forum). Do your home work and make your own informed decisions. Many people who do not understand Bitcoin (and it is hard to get your head around it) announce a lot of incorrect statements and some knowingly promote disinformation. Again do your own research and make your own decisions!

Don't think of it as a stock or get-rich-quick scheme! The so called crash is a result of that type of thinking. Instead, think of it as a currency. Under that line of thinking, what other currency in the world today has a higher value?

There will always be the have and the have nots. I take you have a fast computer you can leave unattended that will earn you lots of these Bitcoins putting you into the top 1%. Deplorable. This is not a solution only a shifting of problems.

Printing imaginary money is impossible with bitcoins. There are a certain number of bitcoins, and they have a unique identity.

Fractional banking is transparent with bitcoins. You know exactly how much the bank has on reserve, because bitcoins are traceable by their very nature. Fractional reserve banking is, in fact, possible with bitcoins, but it is a bit complicated and does involve promissory notes. You know when you're being handed a promissory note by a bank instead of a bitcoin.

Laundering money is impossible for the same reason - you know every transaction every bitcoin has been in.

Mastercard, Visa, and Paypal have all attempted to suppress bitcoins. Something must be special about them.

By the way, if there is suddenly huge funding for the study of quantum computers, this is quite possibly the reason.

There really isn't anything wrong with fiat currency qua fiat currency. Gold was also a fiat currency - simply put, there was nothing backing gold. The only value gold had was what the people using it attributed to it.

What intrinsic value does gold have? The only thing I can think of is it's a pretty good conductor of electricity.

When Paulies gabble about "centuries of economic law" defining value, they think they are talking about gold, but they are really making the argument that we should return to a monetary system that uses cowrie shells. Historically, the cowrie shell has a longer, broader, and richer history as currency than gold.

I would argue that there is intrinsic value to Bitcoin because of it's unique characteristics:
+ near instant transactions (requires about 10-minutes for full confirmation. This is the cost paid to ensure no double spending)
+ free to use (no minimum deposit, no minimum balance)
+ fully transparent and auditable
+ little or no transaction fees
+ not centrally controlled and can not be fraudulently manipulated.
+ anonymity (not complete but can be untraceable when extended with technology such as "Open Transactions).
+ users can have multiple accounts
+ limited supply.
+ requires no third party payment processor.
+ highly secure encryption (beyond that of the current banking industry)
...

These characteristics are of value to me! Paper dollars don't have these very valuable characteristics. So I disagree when people say that Bitcoin has no real value (knowing that the value is relative to the observer).